1. Hilda Simms was an American stage actress, best known for her starring role on Broadway in Anna Lucasta.
19 Facts About Hilda Simms
1. 2.
Hilda Simms was born Hilda Moses in Minneapolis, Minnesota, one of 9 siblings.
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Hilda Simms was the daughter of Emile and Lydia Moses, Roman Catholics of Creole descent.
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When Simms starred in the critically acclaimed Broadway hit Anna Lucasta, her mother Lydia refused to attend the play on Broadway, stating that she would not watch her daughter play a prostitute as she didn't raise her that way.
5.
Hilda Simms studied dramatics at the University of Minnesota before lack of funds forced her to leave.
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Hilda Simms relocated to New York, acting in radio dramas and becoming a member of the American Negro Theater, where she gained professional acting experience.
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In New York she met and married William Hilda Simms and adopted his surname.
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In 1943, Hilda Simms debuted in the title role of Philip Yordan's play, Anna Lucasta.
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The couple returned to the States in the 1950s and Hilda Simms embarked on a promising film career that was cut short.
10.
In 1950, Hilda Simms received critical acclaim in London when she performed in a revival of The Gentle People at the Embassy Theatre.
11.
Hilda Simms played the boxer's wife in The Joe Louis Story.
12.
Hilda Simms had the same role with an otherwise all-white cast the following year in a summer stock production of Streetcar at the Peninsula Playhouse in Fish Creek, Wisconsin.
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Hilda Simms created a one-woman show targeted at college and university audiences in the fall of 1959.
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Hilda Simms continued her stage career in such productions as The Madwoman of Chaillot.
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Hilda Simms portrayed Miss Ayres on the television series The Nurses, and hosted her own radio show, titled Ladies Day, on New York City's WOV.
16.
Hilda Simms narrated, along with Frederick O'Neal, the educational record "Great Negro Americans", written and produced by Alan Sands.
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Hilda Simms became an active participant in political movements and served as the creative arts director for the New York State Human Rights Commission.
18.
Hilda Simms eventually fulfilled her original dream of becoming a teacher and earned a master's degree in education from the City College of New York.
19.
Hilda Simms died in Buffalo, New York, aged 75, from pancreatic cancer.